1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to office machine printers such as electrophotographic printers, ink-jet printers, etc. More particularly, it relates to apparatus and techniques for improving the utility of such printers by providing an expanded array of print media paths therein.
2. Prior Art
Office machine printers such as electrophotographic printers, inkjet printers, etc. very often have both a simplex printing path and a duplex printing path. In the case of simplex printing, a sheet is first taken from a stack of print media (such as a stack of paper) that resides in a sheet dispenser tray located next to, or forming a part of, a printer housing. It is then guided into a first opening in said housing. The sheet receives printing on one side and thereafter leaves the printer as a finished product via a second opening in the printer housing. This second opening is usually serviced by a sheet collection tray.
In the case of duplex printing, a sheet that has received printing on one side is then: (1) temporarily stored in a duplexing tray (that normally resides completely within the printer housing), (2) withdrawn from the duplexing tray, (3) turned over within the printer housing, (4) subjected to printing on its second side and then (5) sent to the sheet collection tray via the same second opening used in the simplex printing operation.
Thus, for example, an electrophotographic printing process might generally comprise the steps of (1) withdrawing a sheet of paper from a stack of such paper residing in a sheet dispenser tray, (2) placing said sheet in a print media path in the printer, (3) using a light emitting source such as a laser beam to form an electrical latent image on a charged photoconductor drum, (4) developing that latent image with a toner, (5) transferring the resultant toner image onto the sheet of paper, (6) fusing the toner image to the sheet (by means of heat, pressure, etc.) and then (7) sending that sheet directly to the sheet collection tray (simplex printing), or (8) sending the sheet to a duplexing tray (duplex printing) located within the printer, (9) removing the sheet from the duplexing tray, (10) turning the sheet over, (11) printing on its second side, (12) directing said sheet through a fuser and then (13) sending said sheet to the sheet collection tray.